Fulbright Public Policy Tips

Biographical Data

1. Complete All Required Fields-You should take care to accurately complete all of the required fields in this section.

2. Use Proper Capitalization and Punctuation-This is a formal grant application and you are advised to follow the English language rules on capitalization and punctuation.

3. Provide an Informative Project Title and Abstract-These sections are a quick reference for screening committees and other reviewers. They should be able to determine the basic who, what, when, where, why and how of your project by reading this abstract. The project title should be informative, as well.

Statement of Grant Purpose: Public Policy Fellowship Goals & Situational Response

1. Develop intellectually-compelling goals and a thoughtful situational response-This is the most important factor in developing a successful application. Develop an intellectually-compelling set of Fellowship goals, and a thoughtful response to one of the scenarios for the Situational Response. The first step is to familiarize yourself with the major public policy issues impacting the country to which you are applying. Fellowship placements will vary from country to country.

2. Address the Following Points in the Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship Section:

• Your familiarity with the culture and chief public policy issues of the country/region.
• What are your goals; what do you propose to do?
• What knowledge, experience and skills do you possess that will make you successful in this kind of assignment?
• What contribution will you make toward the Fulbright goal of promoting cultural exchange and mutual understanding?
• How will the fellowship help further your academic or professional development?
• How will you engage with the host country community? Briefly describe what you propose for your academic component (independent research project or fellowship related coursework).

3. Situational response (1 page)-You should highlight some of the following characteristics:

• service orientation;

• flexibility and resourcefulness;

• organizational skills;

• competencies such as writing, communication and IT skills;

• ability to work behind the scenes in a supportive role.

4. Be Clear and Concise-The individuals reading the proposal want applicants to get to the point and be direct. Avoid discipline-specific jargon.

5. Organize the Statement Carefully-Don't make reviewers search for information. We urge you to have several people read and critique your Statement, including a faculty adviser, a faculty member outside your discipline, a fellow student, and/or a colleague.

6. Adhere to the Following Format:

• Length is limited to 2 pages for Part A: Fellowship Goals and 1 page for Part B: Situational Response. Please adhere to the page limit for each essay. Longer essays will not be presented to screening committees

• Do not include any bibliographies, publications, citations, etc., except those that will fit in the two-page limit.

• Use 1-inch margins and Times New Roman 12-point font.

At the top of each page include:

• On line 1: Essay 1, Part A: Policy Fellowship Goals/Essay 1, Part B: Situational Response as applicable.

• On line 2: You Name, Country of Application, and Field of Study.

• On line 3: Your Project Title as it appears in the Biographical Data section of the application.

Personal Statement

1. Make it Personal-This statement provides you with an opportunity to introduce yourself to the screening committee members on a personal level. The style is up to the you, but the content should convey your background and your motivation for applying to the Fulbright Public Policy Program and how this background relates to the proposed project and your future goals.

2. Do Not repeat information from other parts of the application.

3. Adhere to the following format:
   

• Statement length is limited to a maximum of one single-spaced page. Longer statements will not be presented to screening committees.

• Use 1-inch margins and Times New Roman 12-point font.

At the top of each page include:

• On line 1: Personal Statement.

• On line 2: Your Name, Country of Application, and Field of Study.

• On line 3: Your Project Title as it appears in the Biographical Data section of the application.
  
  

Resume

1. The Resume provides you with an opportunity to provide more details about your professional experience. Please include your relevant public policy and other professional experience and make an effort to keep your Resume as concise and relevant to the Fulbright Public Policy Program as possible.

2. Please adhere to the following format:

• Resume length is limited to a maximum of two single-spaced pages. Longer Resumes will not be presented to screening committees.

• Use 1-inch margins and Times New Roman 12-point font

• Include both the month and year for each of your employment and internship dates (ex.: August 2010-January 2011, not 2010-2011).

3. Those who are applying to a host country where the primary language is other than English and who are proficient in that language should upload a second Resume in the host country language. Please adhere to the format detailed above.

Foreign Language Evaluation

For Commonly Taught Languages-The Foreign Language Evaluation should be completed by a professional language teacher, preferably a university professor. The language evaluator cannot be related to the applicant.

For Less-Commonly-Taught Languages-If a professional language teacher is not readily available, a college-educated native speaker of the language can be used. The language evaluator cannot be related to the applicant.

Provide your evaluators with Instructions for Foreign Language Evaluators. You can print these out and discuss them with the person completing the form.

References

• When choosing reference writers, select the three individuals who can best speak to your ability to carry out the proposed project.
• Do not submit character references.
• Provide reference writers with copies of the Statement of Grant Purpose and the Personal Statement so that they can write well-informed recommendations.
• Give reference writers at least 3-4 weeks to complete their letters.
• You must register the reference writers in the online application system, so that they can upload their letters directly into the your application.
• References must remain confidential, so you cannot upload reference letters.
• Reference letters should be printed on institutional letterhead, signed by the authors, and then uploaded into the online application system.
• Provide your recommenders with Instructions for Fulbright Reference Writers. You can print these out and discuss them with the person writing the letter of reference.
  
  

Transcripts

• You must upload one unofficial academic transcript from each post-secondary institution from which a degree was received. Additional transcripts should be uploaded for coursework and grades not reflected on degree-granting transcripts.
• Failure to provide a complete academic history of higher education will result in your being declared ineligible.
• Graduate-level students who do not include undergraduate transcripts will be considered ineligible.
• Candidates recommended for final consideration will be required to submit official copies of all college transcripts.
• Consult the Transcript and Upload Instructions page for more detailed information.

Ethical Requirements

Applicants proposing research involving human beings or animals as research subjects who plan to formally publish the results or to use the results in a graduate program should have their projects vetted by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at their home institutions. At-large applicants should conduct an individual ethics review ensuring that their proposed projects are consistent with ethical standards for research involving humans as research participants as outlined in the National Guidelines for Human Subjects Research (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Extramural Research, National Institute of Health), in the National Guidelines for Animal Welfare at the National Institute of Health’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare or other applicable internationally recognized ethics guidance documents.

Human subjects research includes: clinical investigations (any experiment or study on one or more persons which involves a test product/article, whether a drug, treatment, procedure or device); social-behavioral studies which entail interaction with or observation of people, especially vulnerable populations (i.e., as minors, pregnant women, inmates, drug-users, the mentally impaired, displaced/refugee populations); and, basic scientific research to study the biology of animals, persons or organs and specimens thereof. The most fundamental issues in studies involving human research subjects include: valid scientific questions and approaches; potential social value; favorable risk-benefit ratio; fair selection of study participants and an adequately administered informed consent process.